Literature Review

Martis Capital rumored to purchase Three Oaks Hospice’s in $150m deal Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 10/18/24 The private equity firm Martis Capital may soon acquire Dallas-based Three Oaks Hospice for a price tag ranging from $150 million to $160 million. Rumors of the potential sale appeared today in an Axios report, in which unnamed sources reportedly confirmed the deal. The Nashville-based investment and management company Petra Capital currently owns Three Oaks Hospice, which reportedly generates between $10 and $13 million in EBITDA, Axios indicated. Rumors that the hospice was considering a potential sale were first reported last month by the website Ion Analytics. The private-equity backed company provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement services across 28 locations in seven states. 

Home health care aide charged with manslaughter in death of elderly central Florida man West Orlando News, Orlando, FL; by Staff; 10/20/24[This article updates the story we posted on 10/1/24, Polk County home health aide accused of sleeping on the job arrested in man’s death: ‘He was old anyway.']... According to the affidavit, Taylor, who was employed by Assisting Hands Home Health Care as a health aide, worked the evening hours at the man’s home in Winter Haven. ...  He was also receiving services from Good Shepherd Hospice beginning on August 14, 2024. ... During an autopsy, it was discovered the patient had an implanted pacemaker. The device manufacturer was later able to conduct a download and provide cardiac data stored on the victim’s implanted pacemaker which confirmed that the victim was still alive at 1:00am when the victim was initially found by Taylor lying on the floor. According to the Medical Examiner, had Taylor called 9-1-1 when she first found the victim, as required by her own company’s policy, the victim would not have died. The Medical Examiner ruled the victim’s cause of death positional asphyxia with a contributory cause of pre-existing health issues. 

Nonprofit endeavors to facilitate food justice Towne Post Network; by Julie Yate; 10/17/24 Bringing Justice Home [in Louisville, KY] is a nonprofit organization committed to alleviating hunger caused by food insecurity for those facing disabilities and chronic or serious illnesses. Now in its fourth year, the completely volunteer-run initiative seeks to facilitate food justice by delivering groceries and household supplies to health-compromised families and individuals who fall below the poverty line. Equally important is the relationship building that occurs as resources are shared and volunteers open their hearts to bringing justice closer to home. ... “Bringing Justice Home is a new kind of neighborhood that goes beyond zip codes, race, disabilities, health labels or status,” says Constance Merritt, who co-founded the organization along with her wife, Maria Accardi. Merritt is a published writer and a licensed social worker with a master’s degree from the University of Louisville. She has worked with older adults in low-income senior housing, patients and families in hospital palliative care, and individuals receiving HIV and AIDS services. 

Who gets to access a “good death"? Adelphi University, New York; by Zainab Toteh Osakew and Jennifer McIntosh; 10/23/24Socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods have fewer home hospice agencies, study shows. ... “We know that poorer neighborhoods have continued to lag behind in utilization of hospice care. For decades, scientists have attributed it to cultural values or preferences about care,” said Zainab Toteh Osakwe ’06, PhD, associate professor in the Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health and an expert in home healthcare. ... Dr. Osakwe partnered with a geospatial analyst at the University of North Dakota to uncover patterns in the locations of hospice offices. Drawing on information made publicly available by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, they culled data related to 3,447 hospice providers and 4,584 Medicare-certified hospices nationwide. Next, they geocoded hospice agency addresses to the social vulnerability index (SVI), a measure developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that geographically ranks at-risk communities. ... Dr. Osakwe and her team found that hospice agency offices were far more likely to be clustered in neighborhoods with greater socioeconomic advantage. Predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods also contained significantly fewer hospice agency offices. While the results align with prior studies on hospice supply and community-level wealth, theirs is one of the first to investigate hospice agency availability by neighborhood.

In memoriam: Dr. Robert TwycrossIAHPC press release; 10/21/24The International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (IAHPC) mourns the death of Dr. Robert Twycross, an outstanding pioneer of the global palliative care movement. A lifetime member of the IAHPC, Dr. Twycross made a significant contribution to the IAHPC List of Essential Medicines, developed years before the World Health Organization added a special section for essential medicines for pain relief and palliative care. Dr. Twycross was born on January 29, 1941, and died yesterday, October 22nd, 2024. He was a pioneer of the hospice movement, helping to establish palliative care in the 1970s as an accepted field of modern medicine.

Hospice fraud casts lengthening shadow over future of industryHospice News; by Holly Vossel; 10/11/24Fraudulent operators in the hospice space have misspent millions of Medicare dollars in recent years. This problem has become so severe that it is one of the defining issues facing the hospice industry, with providers and other industry stakeholders expressing concern about significant impacts to future payment, access, sustainability and utilization. This is the first of a two-part Hospice News series that examines the financial and operational pressures weighing on the minds of hospice providers amid instances of fraud, waste and abuse occurring in the industry.Notable mentions: Patrick Harrison, Senator Elizabeth Warren, MedPAC, Lauren Hunt.

Caring for the family caregivers made ill by their work Penn LDI; by Hoag Levins; 10/11/24 A randomized controlled trial (RCT) led by LDI Senior Fellow Barbara Riegel, PhD, RN, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has identified a virtual health coaching intervention that helped lessen stress for unpaid family caregivers who often neglect their own care. Published in Circulation: Heart Failure, the study focused on unpaid family caregivers providing care to adults with chronic heart failure (HF)—a condition that occurs when the heart can’t pump enough blood for the body’s minimal needs. Because the disease has a variety of symptoms and manifestations that limit palliative care and respite services, it places a heavy burden on home caregivers who are “are commonly overwhelmed and face emotional, psychosocial, and financial risks that result in a decline in their own health and wellness.”Editor's note: Family Support Through Serious Illness is an online video library of 30 brief, state-of-the-art videos for family caregivers, used upstream in the trajectory of serious illness and through palliative/hospice care. These pair with a staff video training, "Empathy for Hospice Professionals."  These are designed and provided by Composing Life Out of Loss, a sponsor for this newsletter.

Fear of cancer recurrence in adult survivors of childhood cancerJAMA Network Open; Alex Pizzo, MSc; Wendy M. Leisenring, ScD; Kayla L. Stratton, MSc; Élisabeth Lamoureux, BA; Jessica S. Flynn, MSc; Kevin Alschuler, PhD; Kevin R. Krull, PhD; Lindsay A. Jibb, PhD, RN; Paul C. Nathan, MD, MSc; Jeffrey E. Olgin, MD; Jennifer N. Stinson, PhD, RN; Gregory T. Armstrong, MD, MSc; Nicole M. Alberts, PhD; 10/24In this cross-sectional study of 229 North American adults who survived childhood cancer, one-third of survivors reported experiencing elevated fear that their primary cancer will recur or a subsequent malignant neoplasm will develop. Fear of cancer recurrence was associated with chronic health conditions, treatment-related factors, anxiety, depression, and perceived health status.

Socioeconomic status and major adverse transplant events in pediatric heart transplant recipientsJAMA Network Open; Christina Hartje-Dunn, MD; Kimberlee Gauvreau, ScD; Heather Bastardi, PNP; Kevin P. Daly, MD; Elizabeth D. Blume, MD; Tajinder P. Singh, MD, MSc; 10/24In this cohort study of pediatric HT [heart transplant] recipients, there was no difference in posttransplant outcomes among recipients stratified by SES [socioeconomic status], a notable improvement from prior studies. These findings may be explained by state-level health reform, standardized posttransplant care, and early awareness of outcome disparities.

Risk of dementia diagnosis after injurious falls in older adultsJAMA Network Open; Alexander J. Ordoobadi, MD; Hiba Dhanani, MD, ScM; Samir R. Tulebaev, MD; Ali Salim, MD; Zara Cooper, MD, MSc; Molly P. Jarman, PhD, MPH; 9/24In this cohort study, new ADRD [Alzheimer disease and related dementias] diagnoses were more common after falls compared with other mechanisms of injury, with 10.6% of older adults being diagnosed with ADRD in the first year after a fall. To improve the early identification of ADRD, this study’s findings suggest support for the implementation of cognitive screening in older adults who experience an injurious fall that results in an ED visit or hospital admission. 

Music therapist helps patients navigate end-of-life journey on Long Island CBS New York / YouTube; by Jenna DeAngelis; 10/15/24 The healing power of music is being brought to hospice patients on Long Island, by Yuzuko DeGrottole, LCAT, MT-BC, a board-certified music therapist with MJHS Hospice.  “Everyone has a song that takes them to a special place. “Are you going to sing with me?” [Sings a beautiful Jewish song.] That's the power of music. It moves us. It connects us, and for Sarah Jacobowitz it just makes her feel good. “I like it.  It makes me happy.”  The 95-year-old Holocaust Survivor is proud of her Jewish Heritage which she celebrates in song since she's bedridden.  Yuzuko brings the music to her, even learning to sing in many languages for her patients. Music communicates with you directly to your heart. Music brings up a lot of emotion, with or without words. … Sarah's son who often sits bedside says music therapy hits all the right notes. Sarah is attentive instead of just sleeping all day or just doing nothing. Music brings back memories and it gives her pleasure just to be alive.Editor's note: Having a board-certified music therapist is significantly more valuable--therapeutically, clinically, meaning-making, mission-oriented--than simply having musicians play music. For more information visit "Facts for Music Therapy in Hospice Care" by American Music Therapy Association and the Certified Board for Music Therapists.

Hurricane Milton challenges home-based care's adaptability Modern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 10/9/24 [Note, posted just prior to landfall, Wed. Oct. 9.] Hurricane Milton is set to test the resilience of home-based care providers along the west coast of Florida. While hundreds of healthcare sites reported evacuations ahead of the hurricane, some companies that provide care to patients where they live, including CenterWell and Medically Home, continued to send staff into patients’ homes in the hours before the storm hit. Many home-based care companies are ready to activate contingency plans to keep providing care to patients during and after the hurricane. ... Here is how some home-based care providers prepared for Hurricane Milton. ...

[From NHPCO/NACH] Hurricane Helene | Getting and Providing SupportNational Alliance for Care at Home / formerly NHPCO; Elyssa Katz; 10/3/24 Hurricane Helene has absolutely devastated the Carolinas and surrounding areas. The Alliance stands with our members, the communities they serve, and all at-home providers across the impacted regions. If you or your organization has been impacted, please see the collection of resources and the Ways to Get Support section below. If you’re looking to help fellow providers or peers in need, see the Ways to Provide Support section.